Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani dies

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani dies

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani passed away at the age of 82 at a hospital in Tehran on Sunday, according to Iranian media, APA reports quoting “Anadolu”.

Rafsanjani, who headed Iran’s Expediency Council, was rushed to a hospital after he experienced heart failure in the afternoon, according to the Fars news agency.

Tasnim News Agency said measures taken by doctors to revive him remained futile.

The funeral will take place on Tuesday morning, Iranian news agency IRNA quoted the Expediency Council's Public Relations Office as saying.

A three-day mourning period was also declared.

The influential politician was born on Aug. 25, 1934. Rafsanjani had joined Ayatollah Khomeini’s movement before the 1979 Iranian revolution and was said to have played an influential role during the Iran-Iraq War between 1980 and 1988.

He was the fourth president of Iran, who served between 1989 and 1997. He had been heading the Expediency Council since 1987.